God Provides: Jehovah Jireh

“The Lord is my shepherd; I will lack no good thing.” Psalm 23:1

Let’s look at the second name for God: Jehova Jireh, God my Provider.

Meaning

The Hebrew word Jireh comes from the word “Raah” meaning to see according to NAS Exhaustive Concordance. Even in English we can see this meaning from Pro- (before) + Vision (to see). So, even in English we can see that God sees beforehand. He has the capacity to see the future and provide or prepare circumstances or things because He knows what will happen.

Context

Since Jehovah Jireh is only used once in the Bible, it is important to consider its context. In Genesis 22:14 Abraham called the place where he went to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God: Jehovah Jireh. God had told Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice on a mountain that he would be shown. Abraham went and obeyed, but at the last moment, an angel of the Lord stopped the sacrifice. Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in the bushes and used it to sacrifice, instead of this son. Abraham knew that Isaac was the son he needed to fulfill the promise that Abraham would have as many descendants as stars in the sky. Even with this strange request from God, he kept his faith. The Bible later says, “Abraham believed that even if Isaac had dies, God would have raised him from the dead. (Heb. 11:17-19). This even was a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ – the Son of God and the Lamb of God. So, in this meaning, Jehovah Jireh refers to the provision of salvation for humanity.

Even though the actual name Jehovah Jireh is not repeated again in the Bible, the idea of God’s provision is everywhere. Here are two examples:

Philippians 4:19 diz: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Note: He will supply our needs, not all our wants.)

Psalm 23:1 shows us that the Lord, just like a good Shepherd, provides us with food, rest, comfort, companionship, examples of how to live, necessary limits, etc.